Too Much Play in Steering Wheel after Transmission Mount Change

Does anyone know what would cause the problem of having too much play in the steering wheel of a Smart car after getting the rear transmission mount chnaged? I now need to turn the steering wheel much farther than I used to when turning or parallel parking, and it feels quite loose while driving.

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Changing the transmission mount would have nothing to do with the steering system. It is possible that the saddles on a hoist were not properly located when the vehicle was lifted or that the vehicle was not jacked up properly, which could cause damage to the steering system or to the front suspension.

Thanks, Robert. This morning, I went back to the foreign car specialist who changed the mount, and he said there was no damage to steering or suspension. He said a steering damper might correct the problem, and that some wheels needed wheel bearings. But I can do it after the long trip I'm leaving on tomorrow. I still don't know why the problem just started after the mount repair though.

Ck. your tire pressure. A steering dampener shouldn't be necessary. The other thing that could have happened is if you hit something or cramped your front wheels into a curb. Excessive play in the steering wheel should be easy to detect. I hope that the import car specialist that you consulted also checked the steering coupler?

Here it is a little over a year later and the front transmission mount needed changing, along with both axle seals which were leaking. Like magic, the steering wheel is now tighter and turns like it used to. The same specialist did this repair job, too. How did that happen?

Robert Ricewasser said:

Ck. your tire pressure. A steering dampener shouldn't be necessary. The other thing that could have happened is if you hit something or cramped your front wheels into a curb. Excessive play in the steering wheel should be easy to detect. I hope that the import car specialist that you consulted also checked the steering coupler?